STEERING COMMITTEE for 2025

Chris Breihan- I am a long-time activist in the anti-war, social justice, women’s rights, and labor movements. I served on the executive boards of both my UAW and AFT union locals. After  6 years on the Peace Action Steering Committee, I am ready to take what I have learned and commit to another year of working to stop US militarism, interventionism, nuclear proliferation for either weapons or energy, and the social injustice that goes with them.

Ann Batiza- Editor of the Mobilizer Newsletter. Retired academic, concerned citizen. Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology, peace activist, League of Women Voters, and lead organizer in the successful Julian Assange Defense Milwaukee.

Babette Grunow- Peace Action WI member for many years, and faithful Stand for Peace attendee. She has co-hosted a program on Riverwest Radio, The Grass is Greener, which has guests speaking on peace and justice topics.

James Morrell- Council of Federated Organizations/Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Indianola, Mississippi voters’ registration, 1965, Contra Costa County peace coalition, Martinez, Calif., anti-napalm campaign outside of navy base at Port Chicago, Co-organizer of Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars, Harvard University, 1967-70, Co-organizer of Conference for Scholarly Integrity, Southern Illinois University, 1970, against involvement in Vietnam war. Research associate, Indochina Resource Center, Washington, D.C. 1974-75, Co-founder and research director, Center for International Policy, Washington, D.C. 1975-2002, Founder and executive director, Haiti Democracy Project, Washington, D.C., 2002 – to present.

Jim Carpenter- Longtime Peace Action member, Conscientious Objector, against all wars and forms of violence. Chair of the End Wars Committee of the Progressive Democrats of America.

Laura Kukor Shea- I became involved with Peace Action Wisconsin in 2002-03 as the US was preparing to invade Iraq.  I began attending the weekly Stand for Peace in April 2005, and my commitment deepened.  I met my husband at those Stands for Peace and currently choose the corners.  I served on the board 2010-2011. 

Harry Targ- Harry Targ is a retired Professor of Political Science, Purdue University, who resides in Milwaukee part of each year. He is a longtime peace and labor activist and is currently co-Chair of a democratic socialist organization, Committee of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. While at Purdue University he was coordinator of the Committee on Peace Studies. He blogs at www.heartlandradical.blogspot.com  He writes on United States foreign policy, international relations, and labor and class in the United States.

Pam Richard- Currently doing Office Administration for Peace Action WI. I am on the board of the United Nations Association of Milwaukee, Disarm Committee of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, board of the national Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. on an Advocacy Team of the Friend’s Committee on National Legislation. I'm a supporting member of Milwaukee Veterans for Peace.

James Oldenburg- An experienced activist in antiwar and social justice movements.  Worked for Assange Defense on both the local and national level while also spearheading the Money For Milwaukee Not For War campaign.  Organized and lead the WI vs WW3 coalition and events in both Madison and Milwaukee, successfully uniting members of Peace Action with ten additional political activist groups across the state.

Jess Devitt is an organizer, researcher, and writer from Milwaukee. He has recently worked with youth-based organizations such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee, and Milwaukee4Palestine. Co-founding the big-tent organization MKE vs. WW3 with James Oldenburg, contributing to unified efforts, youth engagement, and skill-building on the activist left has been a consistent project of his. He was among the campers and security volunteers at the protest encampment at UWM this spring, and has been a passionate and knowledgeable advocate of Palestinian solidarity since he was 13 years old. In his spare time, he reads.

Stephen Beall- I am a native of Detroit, Michigan (born 1960). I was educated at the University of Michigan (AB 1981) and the University of California, Berkeley (PhD 1988). I teach Latin, Greek, and Classical Civilization at Marquette University (1993-present). I have been active for the last five years in the Wisconsin branch of the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC), a project of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Under IWOC’s auspices, I publish a monthly e-newsletter, “Freedom’s Cause,” which is sent to incarcerated people in the Wisconsin correctional system. This year, I also volunteered as a jail minister for the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In 2023, I joined the local chapter of the Assange Defense Committee, through which I came into contact with Peace Action Wisconsin.